Babies Makin' Babies
by jenson40
Summary: "She was supposed to graduate from college, get her career off the ground, find a husband, then maybe think about kids... Now she sat on the bathroom floor holding a positive pregnancy test... She couldn't have a baby. She was still a baby." Nothing followed her plan anymore, but it surprisingly didn't matter now. Literati. Season three AU.


**AN: Ok, so I have worked almost nonstop (stupid school) on this one shot for the past like three days. It's a song fic with Miranda Lambert's "Babies Makin' Babies" cause I have like one artist for each of my OTPs and I feel like her songs always talk about Literati's relationship the best. I don't think I have ever written anything this long before, and I am so glad I did. Especially for my favorite Gilmore Girls ship. Alright, for the second time today: happy reading and tell me your thoughts.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 _Two kids from Tacoma  
In a '72 Nova,  
No pill and barely old enough to drink,_

It had happened in the back of his crappy car one night. It was so old and run down she couldn't even tell what it had been in its glory years. But in that moment it felt like it could have been the glory years.

She had always said she would tell her mom before she thought it was going to happen. She had thought she would have known when it was going to happen. But it just did. You can't just plan something like that. They had just been making out when he told her he loved her. She didn't expect him to say that. Not ever. She had been so overcome with emotion that she didn't think. Just did.

And boy did they do. He had been so gentle with her. She wasn't naïve. She knew that she hadn't been his first. But he had been hers, and she wouldn't have had it any other way. She knew he loved her, and she knew that she loved him. She had at least screamed it so many times that night it had to have been true by then.

She told her mom she was at Lane's, so she didn't expect her back. She lay in his arms, in a back of his car. She didn't care how cramped it had been; they were together, and they were in love. They made love a numerous amount of times that night. She didn't care that it had been in a rundown car, she only cared that it was with him.

Now the only thing she cared about was the fact that she hadn't been on the pill. She had made the biggest decisions of her life, and she had forgotten to make sure she at least had used a contraceptive. It's not like she didn't trust Jess. She just knew that sometimes teenagers could be forgetful, or condoms broke, or too many thoughts were whirling through her head at that moment.

She felt stupid. She felt invigorated. She felt sick.

 _Learned the ropes and tested science,  
Started Pentecostal riots,  
In just five minutes behind the rolling rink,  
In the backseat brings_

After that night, they had spent the next two weeks trying to find alone time. She had given herself to him, and he still wanted to be with her. He wasn't like the guys her mom talked about. He really wanted to be with her even after he got what most boys wanted. He wanted her, only her.

The best place though, was his car. It reminded her of their first time as a couple, and it was just special. They always made sure to go out after ten when all of Stars Hollow was asleep. There was a lesser chance of getting caught while the mayor dreamed of canned goods.

They drove past the church, and her faced burned from embarrassment. She felt guilty driving past the thing that stood against premarital sex, and there she was getting ready to do just that. They drove around for a while longer; he could tell she wasn't ready for that just yet. He wanted to make sure she knew he respected her.

That made her want him even more.

He parked the car in an alley behind Doose's. He had gotten tired of aimlessly driving up and down the two blocks that was Stars Hollow. Sometimes they just sat in the car; neither one daring to make a move. He had been with other girls, but none ever made him feel the way he did around Rory. So he kept his distance, and made sure that she called the shots on things like this. He didn't want her to feel like he controlled her. She had already had that with Dean. Look where that got him.

She huffed next to him. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, and watched the sleeping town. She felt like the place he had chosen had been symbolic. Sort of a screw you thrown Dean's way. She kind of liked it. They sat in the silence for a while before she made the first move.

It hadn't been much of a move, more of she placed her head on his shoulder as he silently read. She played at the pages that had yet to be turned, and looked at him with a fire in her eyes. She had totally gotten over driving past the church. She was slightly turned on at the thought of them having sex near the most forbidden spot in town.

He was putty in her hands in less than five minutes. She had him right where she wanted him. He had her. All he ever wanted was her.

 _The American dream on a shoestring,  
First you grow it, then you show it,_

She hadn't thought that it would ever happen. She thought that whole thing about just one time was a lie. She was wrong.

She had had finals the same week she was supposed to get her gift. It never came, and she never noticed. She had been far too stressed to realize she didn't need to pack an extra tampon, and if she did, she was glad that she didn't have the extra emotions swirling around in her. But there was so much more swirling around in her.

When a few more weeks passed, and she noticed changes in her body and eating habits, she finally caved and bought the test. She didn't tell anybody. Not even him. She had hoped her mind was playing tricks on her. She was a senior, she couldn't get pregnant. Not yet. She was supposed to graduate from college, get her career off the ground, find a husband, then _maybe_ think about kids.

But plans don't always work out. Her mother had warned her. Her teachers had warned her. But she didn't listen. Now she sat on the bathroom floor holding a positive pregnancy test. She wasn't sad and crying like most kids in her position did. She was mostly angry at herself and the world. She couldn't have a baby. She was still a baby.

She didn't even want to think about how Jess would possibly feel. A baby at 18. At least she was two years older than her mom had been, and no one was going to force her to get married. But she thought that maybe if Jess asked without being pressured, she might say yes. She did love him. He loved her. They were now having a baby.

Oh, the baby. She didn't know what to do. She was worried, and felt sick, and didn't want to think about anything else besides how to get from the bathroom to her bedroom. She stood up, hoping to maybe start the last thing on her list. Instead, as soon as she stood she fell back to the ground, grabbed the side of the toilet bowl, and puked her guts out.

She sat back, and let it all sink in once more. The fact that she had just gotten her first bought of morning sickness in the afternoon made the reality of it all shine through. The more she thought about it the sicker she felt, and she leaned over to once again heave all of her insides.

Her heaving was interrupted by someone walking through the door. She tried to quiet herself, but that only made her gagging louder and more strained. She heard the quick shuffling of whoever had stepped into the house, and would have jumped when they entered if she hadn't been so attached to the toilet bowl.

She couldn't catch a glimpse of who it was because her head was so far down the toilet. She felt someone's rough hands pull her hair back, and she knew it was him. She knew her secret wouldn't stay quiet forever. She finished and stood up to run some water through her mouth to make the horrible taste of bile leave her throat. He stood behind her a few inches; she could feel his breath on her neck.

She looked in the mirror and gasped in horror. In his hands was the little white stick. The one thing that held their future. She turned back to the toilet once more. He once again knelt beside her, held her hair, ran his fingers up and down her back. She wanted to cry.

She sat back, and was met with his chest. He had been prepared. He held her in his arms, kissed her temple, and didn't say anything. It worried her that she didn't know the inner workings of his brain and what he was thinking. She needed to know what his thoughts were. She needed to know if…

She faltered. He wasn't… He was _not_ like his father. He was _not_ like her father. One thing she had learned was that he came back. He cared about her. And she hoped he cared about the life growing inside her. She wanted to cry.

But the tears wouldn't come. It was more of pitiful little whimpers, and he continued to kiss her temple still not saying anything to quiet her fears.

"It's going to be ok." He finally broke the silence. She leaned further into him, he held her waist a bit tighter. She nodded, a sudden feeling of peace washing over her. "I love you." He whispered in her ear. She nodded again, unable to speak from the lump in her throat. "I love you." He placed his warm hand on her abdomen.

And in that moment, she truly believed it was going to be ok.

 _Give a good push just like a Brady,  
Say you'll love them 'till your eighty,_

She knew she was getting looks. She knew she was the subject of their whispers. She knew they would never say anything to her because of the way Paris guarded her like a dog. She knew Jess had asked her to. She placed a hand on her ever growing abdomen and sighed.

She knew that soon the baby would come any day now (a little girl as they had found out at her four-month check-up. Jess would never admit it, but he had cried profusely thinking about their daughter.) and she would have to leave the school she had worked so hard to get into before graduation. Jess had told her to keep going. Live her dream for as long as possible before their lives went to chaos.

She had been accepted into Harvard. The one dream she wouldn't get to live out. She also got into Yale and Princeton. She didn't plan on going to college after she found out, but once again Jess had pushed her to live her dream. So she decided on Yale. It seemed a better fit anyway, being closer to her mom, and somehow the pros had outweighed the cons.

Jess had been everything she had hoped he would during the situation they were in. He had asked her to marry him. It had been one night when they were sitting on the couch eating Indian food, she said no. She knew she had once thought it a good idea to get married if he asked, but she felt like it had been too forced. Too based on her pregnancy.

He still stayed by her side. He had dropped out of school (completely against her wishes), and started working full time at Walmart. She knew what he was doing. He would sometimes leave newspapers out with apartments near Yale circled. He would spend less of his money on cigarettes, and more on design magazines. He wanted her happy, and she loved him for it.

She felt a slight push against where she had laid her hand. Her original frown from being the center of attention had quickly turned up into an incredibly bright smile. Feeling her baby kick made her whole being fill with love. When she had first found out, she had been terrified, angry, and didn't think she would ever be happy with a baby on her hip.

She was so wrong. And was she glad at how wrong she was.

Some nights, she would wake up in the middle of the night by Jess's soft voice. He was sitting up in bed, holding a children's book and reading to her stomach. She had heard of men doing that, and she thought it was the weirdest thing. But hearing the man she loved reading to their unborn child was completely different, and she would fall asleep with happy tears rolling down her face.

" _I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living my baby you'll be._ " Most nights without fail he would read that after he thought she had gone to sleep. She never thought he would be the one to read a children's book to his child. Unless it was a classic book like _Little House on the Prairie_ , _Anne of Green Gables_ , _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

It sent butterflies through her to think of how he anticipated their daughter. He, the town hoodlum with the snarky attitude and daddy issues, was excited and giddy and completely run over with emotions thinking about their baby.

She walked home from the bus stop slower that evening. She had been caught up in her thoughts, and Jess wouldn't be back from work until at least seven. She had the time and she knew to revel in it while it lasted because it wasn't going to last much longer.

And as soon as she had let that thought fly, she felt the sudden sharp pain that could only be a contraction. She grabbed at her bump, swore a bit, and picked herself back up to head into Luke's. She was not an idiot and knew that labor could last up to days, and she most definitely didn't want to rush it.

She had gone up to the apartment above the diner and called Jess. He had finally caved and got a cell phone so he could be easily reached. He heard the words "baby" and "coming" in the same sentence and went into autopilot. She was barely able to get in another word before he had hung up and started his way to the car.

Upon his return, she had told him that the baby still probably wouldn't come for a few more hours. So they waited in the apartment. He read out loud to her. She wrote an article or two. He did finally convince her to leave the confines of the diner when her contractions were about five minutes apart. She nodded, and followed numbly while he grabbed their bags.

A few hours later, their daughter was born. She was a bright pink, and her shrill scream sounded melodious to her parents' ears. They had named her Lorelai Sybil since the Lorelais could not die out. Though they had decided to avoid confusion she would go by her middle name.

She had been drifting off to sleep while Lorelai held Sybil, and had barely caught the tail end of what she said to Jess. "So how many more until you're the size of the Brady Bunch." He only groaned while taking back his daughter.

 _Too soon to be a mother and father,  
But too late for the alma mater,  
Yeah it's always in the water  
Babies makin' babies_

She _never_ regretted being a mother. No matter her original thoughts on the subject, she never once regretted it. But nights like these made her wish she was older. Older, more experienced, married, holding a steady job… She looked over and saw the way he ran a hand through his dark locks as he sat up to go calm their daughter's squalls.

She could hear him as he walked out the door holding a screaming Sybie. The baby loved her father, and she most definitely loved going on late night car rides. Seemed that the parents weren't the only ones who found calm in the car. Barely two minutes had passed before the car pull back into the driveway.

He walked through the door as quietly as possible while holding a crying three month old. They had both been so tired that they didn't realize that Sybie's cry was her hungry cry. It was moments like that when she felt like she was failing as a mother because she was too young. She couldn't even recognize what her daughter needed.

He sat down next to her on the bed, and handed over the baby. She took her without a word, but watched him with worry as he turned over on his side to try and go back to sleep. He never spoke much on those nights. It worried her that he regretted the whole family thing they had going. He tried to reassure her countless times that she was most definitely it for him, but there was always that nagging in the back of her mind.

She lifted up her shirt, and waited patiently for Sybie to latch on. They were the only ones awake now. She could hear his soft snores, and before long she was lucky enough to hear a slight snore coming from the baby. She stood up, rocked the tiny human in her arms, and placed her back in the crib. It had been the same one that her mother had used in the potting shed. They didn't have enough money to buy a new one.

She slid back into bed beside him, and she felt a smile against her lips when he subconsciously pulled her against him. She kissed his forehead, and closed her eyes trying to get to sleep. It eluded her that night.

She knew the whole reason that she was still awake with about two more hours before Sybie woke up again was because she was nervous at how quickly the summer was coming to a close. She had been lucky to have been so far ahead in her classes that she was still able to walk with the other students in her class the month following Sybie's birth. But there was something about college.

Not just any college. Yale. Her grandfather's (whom she had feared she had failed when she had gotten pregnant in high school just like her mother, but in the end had made proud by still accomplishing all her dreams and going to Yale) alma mater. It scared her beyond reason. She didn't care that Jess and Sybie were going with her, she cared that somehow she would still fail someone if she succumbed to the stress.

She felt like she was already succumbing to the stress, and her daughter wasn't even four months old. It scared her. The thought of being a mother and a college student at the same time. She felt Jess's arms tighten around her middle (something that would never be the same or get its girlish figure back. Yet another thing for her to feel stressed about.) in his sleep. She took that as a way of him reading her thoughts.

They had gotten extremely good at that since Sybie had been born. They had this connection now, and it was unbreakable. Even in sleep. "It's gonna be ok." He mumbled. She knew now that he hadn't been asleep, but he was still able to read her thoughts. He kissed her temple, she stroked the stubble growing on his chin.

When he said things like that, she felt reassured and safe. He calmed her fears, and loved her unconditionally. She kissed his nose only inches away from hers. "Marry me." She whispered.

"Ok. Sleep first, wedding second." His voice was full of sleep, and he never once opened his eyelids. However, she knew it wasn't a half-assed thought at two in the morning. He would fully process the extent of their words in the morning, and he would be so elated.

With his answer, waves of calm crashed on her like the tide on the shore. She would sleep well. That was until Sybie woke up again.

 _Between diplomas and the diapers,  
They become couch quarter finders,  
Savin' up for a Maytag microwave,_

She stepped into their apartment, and for once was met with no sound. Whenever she returned from her classes, the shoebox apartment was completely filled with too many sounds to make out. Granted, a majority of them came from the street. Without much money they had had to rent an apartment in the sketchier area of New Haven. But it was home.

She dropped her bag on the "kitchen" table. It really couldn't be called a kitchen considering it was just a stove and fridge. No microwave, no dishwasher. That did make the long evenings more difficult when they ate the ridiculous amounts of leftovers they tried to make last as long as possible. And the nights when she wanted to cram, but her lovely husband was trying to do the dishes.

They had gotten married two days after her late night idea. They knew it would be better for tax benefits, if anything happened to them, it would be better for Sybie to know that her parents were in love and married. It had been a small affair at the City Hall. They got the license, they got the rice, they got the party. She realized now how trivial a big wedding sounded.

She once again had finals soon, but these were much more stressful than any she had faced in high school. She was up late every night studying while her baby and husband slept peacefully in the single bedroom they shared. She felt like all her time now was spent on campus, at her quiet tree, or up late. She was disappointed how little time she had spent with her ever growing daughter. But she needed to graduate since they couldn't live on Jess's Walmart job and her own waitressing forever. It was something she had started in hopes of helping make more money. It wasn't much, but it was just enough.

She knew they would find a way to make more money soon. He had gotten his GED, and there were some better job opportunities now. She had been so proud when he came home one day from work, complaining about the fact that he felt like he could never get promoted even though he was the smartest worker there, and decided he was going to get his GED. He had picked up Sybie from her play pen (which doubled as her crib since they had slightly less accessibility to the one at Lorelai's) looked up a hopeful glint in his eye.

"I'm not gonna lie to her." He had said holding the baby close to him. She looked at him confused on why or how he would ever lie to their daughter. "I'm not gonna let her grow up hearing from us how school is so important and she should stay in school when I dropped out. I'm getting my GED." She had grinned so widely he thought she might've had a stroke. That was until she attacked him with kisses and hugs and tears of joy.

He was currently looking for a new job, and she believed he had hopefully found one. It wasn't an amazing step up, but it beat working at Walmart from whenever she got off to take the baby to when she had to head to work or class. He'd just gotten word that he was accepted for a job working at a bookstore. The pay was slightly better, and it had better benefits. Now, she just needed to convince him to send in one of the manuscripts he'd written.

She continued working on her paper for one of her lit classes. She didn't realize the time until he came through the front door with Sybie in the Baby Bjorn her mother had gotten them. It still made her crack up to see Jess Mariano walking around with a baby on his chest. She kissed him chastely and continued on her paper.

He stepped back into the living/dining room a worried expression on his face. She raised her head to glance in his direction, and quickly gave him her full attention no matter how difficult. "We're out of leftovers." She groaned. The one thing they almost always had was leftovers. Whether it be from Luke's when he made his weekend visits and brought them food and bought them groceries, or Lorelai came for a dinner during the week and ordered almost the entirety of a Chinese restaurant so they could eat for a week.

She threw down her pencil and made her way to the kitchen. She remembered that they had eaten the last of the pancakes that morning as a celebration for him getting the job. She pushed through everything that was in the linen closet turned pantry. Or at least looked behind a few stale pieces of bread. She found just enough ramen for the two of them.

She grabbed one of the few pots they had and started filling it with water. Or tried to fill it with water. She had turned the cold water handle and was met with nothing. "Dammit!" She screamed at the sink as she threw the pot in. Jess came running around the corner of the thin wall separating the "kitchen" from the living/dining room.

He took in the turned nozzle without running water, and his crying wife. He was as angry as she was because he knew they had paid the water bill that month. He knew they had paid all their bills on time because even though they didn't have much money they knew that the necessities came first. That was the only good thing the both of them had learned from growing up poor. He pulled her into his arms, and let her tears soak his shirt.

Eventually her sobbing died down, and she was reduced to hiccupping. He kissed her hair, and lead her to the couch. "Work. I'll fix it." And then he left the room while she continued to work on her homework. He returned five minutes later; he said nothing, but she knew the triumphal look gracing his features.

It had been nearly an hour since he had gone to "fix it," and she was incredibly hungry. She heard her stomach growling, and she feared that she may be found here amidst her homework. She had been dreaming up the perfect burger when someone knocked on the door. Jess quickly stood to get it, and she was sort of grateful that she didn't use the last of her strength to get up.

Luke came walking in completely taking her by surprise. She saw her husband try to discreetly hide a wad of cash that had obviously come from his uncle. Said uncle placed what looked like a thousand grocery bags on the table, and handed her a to go box. Looking inside she saw the fries and the burger, and she started crying all over again. She hugged Luke with such a ferocity she was worried she might have killed him from shock.

She pulled away and turned to Jess. She drew him in for a passionate kiss that he gladly reciprocated. She was so grateful that he hadn't let his pride get in the way, and actually asked for help. That was something she had been struggling with more often than not. She gave Luke one las hug when he said he should start heading back. Jess thanked him once again, and then it was goodbye until he came to visit the next weekend.

She sat down on the couch and picked up her baby girl. She hugged the six month old, still crying tears of joy. They were going to make through yet another day. He came up behind them, his two girls, and held them in his arms. She leaned back letting herself be enveloped by the love of her husband.

She felt something cold run along the exposed part of her back where her shirt had ridden up slightly. She placed her hand behind her back and pulled out a quarter. She plunged her hand inside the couch cushions once more and came up with a few pennies. She placed them in the jar next to the couch. On it was a sticky note reading: 'Microwave fund.'

"It's gonna be ok." He whispered in her ear. That phrase was a constant in her life. Something he had been telling her for months and every time it all worked out. She swore he had some sort of super power.

And once again, she knew it would all go according to plan.

 _Oh but all has been forgiven,  
On the day the water christened,  
The best thing that could have happened by mistake,_

It seemed to so weird to her. The fact that she wanted her daughter to be christened. She knew that her mother didn't really bother doing that for her (it wasn't like they were very spiritual anyway), but she wanted to do that for Sybie. It just seemed like the thing that normal families did, and she wanted to feel normal.

Jess had agreed with the idea, and since their daughter was so beloved by the town everything was done for them. Apparently, there was going to be a gathering at her mother's house after the christening which everyone in town wanted to go to. Lorelai had sewn the white dress, and Luke was catering. Along with that, he would also be Sybie's godfather. It seemed symbolic because he had taken the role of father in both of their lives. Lane would be her godmother.

Thinking of Lane reminded her that Mrs. Kim had actually said she wanted to join in the festivities. It had been most likely because she was thankful that a Gilmore was finally being given to God. It still made her happy that the stern, disapproving mother of her best friend would be there finally approving of something she'd done. Her grandparents would be in attendance also.

They had started coming around to the idea of Jess when they had gotten married. They seemed to approve that she had decided to get married when her mother hadn't. But she did have a better relationship with her child's father than her own mother had. They very much adored Sybie, but Emily still cringed at the thought of being a great grandmother. Richard reveled in his role as great grandfather by lending out his favorite children's books, and sending pamphlets for incredible preschools even though Sybie was not even a year old.

They traveled to Stars Hollow the night before the event, and would stay in her old room at Lorelai's. She was now thankful that they had decided to leave the crib with her mother for nights when they didn't want to haul every baby thing they kept in their residence in New Haven. She was also thankful at the number of people who would want to hold and take care of her baby while she and her husband rested.

Their normally content baby was teething, and it made night and days hell. She would get a random page or message left on her phone during class when Jess wasn't able to find the teething ring, or Sybie had just thrown it somewhere unreachable and wouldn't stop fussing. She was always a bit annoyed when he called her during class, but she knew if their positions were flipped she would probably be unable to stop crying while she called him.

Another thing that she was thankful for the coming weekend for. Her emotions would hopefully take a small vacation while they were back home. With all the stress they had been through lately, she felt like the littlest thing could send her into a sniffling mess. Last week it had been because she had forgotten to bring enough change when she went to the laundry mat. She had called him sobbing about the fact that she needed him to take a couple cents from the microwave jar to help get the laundry done that week.

He had been there sooner than she could have hung up, and he walked in like her knight in shining leather. It didn't matter to her that his leather jacket had suffered a horrible spit up stain, and would then lead to more cleaning. She was just thankful for him. Thankful that he had stayed with her. Thankful that he didn't feel like he was being tied down. Thankful that he still loved her and their daughter.

The thought brought tears to her eyes. So much for her emotions taking a vacation. Who was she kidding? She would probably be blubbering like a child when the baby got water poured on her head. She let the happy tears escape, and with her intake of a shaky breath came the warm embrace of her husband whom she so desperately loved. He kissed her temple, didn't say a word, and just lay there with her.

"I love you." She whispered her voice raspy from crying. He nodded his head, kissed her, and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"I know." He had replied, kissing her shoulder. She knew that even though he didn't actually say he loved her back that he did. He was just being the Han Solo to her Princess Leia. They stayed in their position until Sybie woke up crying. And after they had put their baby to sleep, they returned to that position, and stayed there until they had to get up and ready.

That morning she got up early enough that she could take her sweet time getting ready. She had left him asleep in her bed, kissed the top of her daughter's soft head, and went to take a much needed shower. She had been thankful for the extra time when he had gotten in with her, distracting her from actually working on her appearance.

Her mother had taken over baby duty while they were busy. It felt awkward to her, but she knew (more like hoped) her mother wouldn't say anything dirty at the church. Lorelai had looked them up and down after they had finally left the bathroom fully clothed, and snorted when she saw the look of pure terror on Jess's face when he realized the vicinity his mother-in-law had been in as they finished up their shower.

Her own face had turned red when her mother made the comment on their sex life. "You know they say that having a kid and being married makes people have sex less. Hope you two aren't planning baby number two already." She now knew the good things that came with birth control. They didn't need two kids at nineteen. One was already a handful. They made sure to be more careful while in Stars Hollow after that encounter.

That morning had been a perfect day for a christening. The sky was blue; the snow had fallen perfectly on the ground the night before. It was probably the first time her mother hadn't forced her out of bed to walk in the first snow of the year. The entirety of Stars Hollow was waiting for them at the church. Reverend Skinner stood at the front of the church with the water, and Luke and Lane stood beside him as he explained the spiritual responsibilities of being godparents.

Sybie had been a perfect angel throughout the baptism. She didn't whine or anything when the water was sprinkled on her forehead, and it seemed to her parents that she looked around the town with a clearer vision. They thought it had been a thing of their imagination until Mrs. Kim, ever critical of them, had mentioned the light in the child's eyes as a gift from God. It made her tear up getting the shred of approval from the woman who usually hated all things that had to do with the world.

That night, they slept with Sybie placed between them. The baby had been asleep for quite some time, but Jess had once again read _Love You Forever_. It brought tears to her eyes like it always did. His voice was so soft and gentle, and his touch seemed even more so. He never once faltered in mentioning how much he loved the two of them, and she didn't know how she had found such a love so young.

It was that thought that made her realize how young they really were. They had been married for a little bit more than three months, and they were nineteen. It was some serious Zach and Kelly, Cory and Topanga stuff they had going for them. She sometimes forgot about how young they were because of how far they had come in the adult world. They were still teenagers, and they were already working so hard to keep their family together.

He looked up at her with his brown eyes, and she knew that he had read her mind. "You don't regret it? Any of it?" He asked almost silently so he wouldn't wake the baby. Add the fact that he cared about her feelings to the top of the list of things she loved about him.

"Not ever." She could see him smile in the dark. He cupped her face, and he placed a kiss on her cheek. She hummed in approval, and he rubbed his hand across Sybie's head of dark brown hair.

"Me neither." She knew that if the baby hadn't been there she would have jumped him immediately. She fell asleep thinking about how things were better than ok.

 _Well it's a tried and true equation,  
maintains a small town population,  
That turns us all into a family,_

It took some time, but they had finally moved back to Stars Hollow. She had gotten a job at the Stars Hollow Gazette practically before she had walked to get her diploma. He had decided (once their lives had stopped being so hectic) to take a few classes himself in literature and writing. She had been so proud of him when he finished his book he had spent most nights writing while she headed to work and the baby was asleep.

However, Sybie was no longer the baby she had been when they moved to New Haven. She had grown to be a rambunctious four-year-old. Never stopping, never sitting still, never staying out of trouble. Her eye's might've been blue, but she mirrored her father when she got an idea in that little mind of hers. She requested a story every night, most of the time _Love You Forever_ because Jess had ingrained that story in her mind since before birth.

They had found a little house on Peach (he had told her when they had decided to move back that he would want to try and avoid the streets named after fruits, and that he would never live on Peach Street. He had lost that argument when he saw the look she gave him as they walked into the perfect house) in a good walking distance of the diner. It was also barely a minute from her mother's when they cut through a couple backyards.

They spent a majority of their nights sitting on the swing on the back porch. A cup of coffee in her hands, a mug of hot chocolate in his. Her legs were tangled in his as they tried to sit comfortably and sideways at the same time. He played with the ring on her finger as she sipped at the warm liquid in her other hand.

"You're beautiful." He whispered into her hair. She smiled coyly continuing to read his second book after setting her coffee down on the little table placed next to the swing. He didn't expect a reply, and instead watched as Sybie played on the swing set that Luke had built for her the moment they moved to town.

She giggled to herself, as she kicked her little legs and tried to get her own swing going. She was fiercely independent and was done asking for Mommy and Daddy's help. Something they were a bit said about, but let her do her own things instead of smothering her. She finally did get the technique right as she pumped her legs high in the air, her dark locks flying around like a cape.

They sat like that for another half hour. Switching between watching their daughter play and reading his second book. She would read a page, and he would glance at it then criticize it while he waited for her reassurance that it was indeed good. Eventually, it reached close to their daughter's bed time, and they herded Sybie in for her nightly routine.

As usual, she got a stern talking to from her father for splashing her mother a bit too much while taking a bath. She apologized in that cutesy four-year-old way, and they knew they couldn't ever be really mad with her. Her room was painted pink (another thing he had advised against, but happened anyway), and had a small bookshelf adjacent to her bed.

On the very top of the bookshelf sat the worn copy of _Love You Forever_ , and like every night he read it to her in the most calming gentle voice that no one thought him capable of. Sybie fell asleep half way through, tired from her long first day of preschool. He kissed her forehead, whispered how much he loved her, and waited for his wife in the hallway. She came out a few seconds later after saying her own goodnight.

They walked to their master bedroom (they had never had a room to themselves, and he almost died when she jokingly suggested pink for the walls) with his arm around her waist. They went through their nightly routine in tandem like they had for the past four years. She was in bed first, looking over an article that she had written a few days earlier for the start of school in town. He came up and kissed her passionately on the lips.

She flipped off the light, and they sunk down deeper to the warmth of the comforter. September in Connecticut could get chilly, and she had almost forced him to turn on the heat. He had his hand placed on her stomach, and she placed her own on top of his. She smiled when she felt the same fluttering she had with Sybie. Her eyes stung with joyous tears as she heard him whisper the last lines of their daughter's favorite book.

She turned around to face him, and placed a kiss on his no longer moving lips. She felt another kick, and she placed his hand on her protruding stomach once again. She could see his smile through the dark, and she was so happy to think about the new person they were bringing into the world. This time a son, one she hoped would have his soft brown eyes, and he hoped would have her glorious smile.

"I told you it was going to be ok." He told her, breaking the silence. She nodded, moving closer to gain some more of his body heat. They fell asleep with her head on his chest, his face buried in her hair, their fingers intertwined over their next baby, and their legs tangled in their attempt to be as close as possible.

She was so glad at how right he had been. It had been better than ok. It had been great.

 _Yes, it's always in the water,  
Babies makin' babies._


End file.
